How To Use Chicken Manure For Roses

It’s a waste.

You have chickens running around in your yard. Leaving behind some good chicken manure.

You wonder if you can add those to your rose plants.

Chicken manure is good for roses as an organic fertilizer. It is rich in nitrogen that helps grow foliage on the rose plants. Use aged chicken manure directly in the soil. Add fresh chicken manure to the compost pile as a source of nitrogen.

In this post, I’ll help you figure out whether chicken pellets are good for roses. You’ll learn how to use chicken manure on roses and when to use it.

Let’s take a look.

Are chicken manure pellets good for roses?

Chicken manure pellets are good for roses because they are rich in essential plant nutrients and have a slow-release time. This reduces the chances of fertilizer burn to the delicate roots and stem of the rose plant.

Composted chicken manure contains high nutrient profiles of calcium, phosphorous, nitrogen and potassium, which are essential for root and flower growth. Nitrogen also draws moisture to the soil, which aids in leaf growth for your rosebushes during the warmer months.

Chicken manure pellets also add higher carbon content, which is consumed by worms and healthy soil bacteria necessary for nutrient breakdown and absorption by your roses.

All gardens, trees and bushes get chicken poo or liquid gold here. There were roses on my property when I bought in 1978, they are still going strong….. I dead head, prune and fertilize, and of course cut and bring in the blooms. – Mel

Chicken manure pellets are chicken manure that has been dried and remade into a granular or pelleted form for easier absorption into the soil. They are designed to break down over a longer time to increase nutrient dispersion and assimilation to benefit the soil and the plants.

As they are designed for slower breakdown, results from your chicken pellets may not be immediately visible; however, they provide long-term nutrition and soil conditioning for rosebushes.

I asked fellow gardeners whether it’s a good idea to use chicken manure on rose plants. A good majority felt it’s a good idea as seen from the poll below.

How do you use chicken manure on roses?

Chicken manure is best used on roses by scattering pellets or compost form manure across the soil, avoiding creating any concentrated areas.

Chicken manure should be applied by scattering 3 to 5 oz per square yard of the garden bed. Work it into the soil by scratching the surface with a hoe, garden rake, or overturning the soil with a shovel. Be careful not to damage the roots of your roses during this stage, as this will set back the growth.

Water the soil thoroughly before and after manure application. This dilutes the nitrogen concentration and helps to incorporate the manure into the soil, kick-starting its breakdown and nutrient distribution for use by the rose bush roots.

Chicken manure left on the surface can lose much of its nitrogen content through conversion to ammonia gas, which is why proper incorporation into the soil is so important. It’s also essential to supplement your manure with potassium, as chicken manure is low in the nutrient.

Roses are carnivores mine feast on blood meal and bone meal and thrive. Chicken poo would be last resort for me here in WV. – Sarah

When to put chicken manure on roses?

The best time to put chicken manure on roses is as early as possible after winter as soon as the ground becomes workable. Chicken manure’s slow breakdown means it is an effective supply of nutrients over a period of months.

Applying a surface layer in late fall also allows the manure to break up effectively over winter and release nutrients for your rose bush to use in spring. By using a slow-release form like poultry manure pellets or diluted fresh manure, the essential phosphorous, nitrogen and potassium are dispersed into the soil and give a more consistent result.

To maintain steady growth of your rosebushes, we should apply chicken manure every four to six weeks during the spring growing season. This spaces out the delivery of nutrients and ensures optimum growth for your plants.  

Can chicken manure burn roses?

Chicken manure can burn roses roots and stem if you use too much of it. The fresh manure contains a high nitrogen content that will damage the delicate underground growth of the plant. The pH of the soil can also increase the chance of burns and damage to your rose’s roots.

Symptoms of fertilizer burn on roses include yellowing and browning of leaves and stems, shriveled roots and eventually a withered plant.

To avoid burns on your roses, dilute your manure with water before applying to soil; roses are more susceptible to fertilizer burn from manure when the soil is dry because of high nutrient concentration in the soil.

Fertilizing your roses with compost significantly reduces the risk of fertilizer burn from chicken manure. By applying a 2-inch layer of compost twice a year, your rosebushes receive a slow release of nutrients and trapped moisture in the soil, which is better for facilitating long-term growth.

Just make sure it’s well rotted, otherwise it will burn them, it’s very hot. – Bobbie

Is cow manure good for roses?

Cow manure is good for roses when you use composted manure because it contains the right balance of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.

Composted cow manure is less likely to cause fertilizer burn to new rose bushes but is not recommended for long-term use as a single fertilizer for roses, as it doesn’t contain adequate nutrients for your rosebush’s requirements.

Like other herbivores, cow manure often contains high levels of weed seeds in its pure form. Before use, dilute the manure and leave for five to seven days. This allows the weed seeds to germinate and die before they are dispersed into the soil.

Is horse manure good for roses?

Composted horse manure is good for roses because of its balanced nitrogen and phosphorous profile. Compared to cow and chicken manure, horses are typically fed more supplements which make their manure a nutrient booster for lackluster soil.

The animal’s diet affects the nutritional make-up of the fertilizer for roses and its efficacy as a nutrient booster for roses. Horses are grazing animals, meaning that their manure also contains more weed seeds than chicken manure.

Properly composting the horse manure before use kills most of these seeds and any harmful bacteria such as E. Coli and salmonella that may affect the growth of your roses.